Film

On March 31, 2017, Lakeshore Records had planned to release the score to the live action Ghost in the Shell film. The release was unfortunately cancelled for reasons unknown, and ever since that time fans have been signing a petition for its release on Change.org. At the time of writing the petition has garnered over 4000 signatures, whatever you think about petitions of these nature there is evidence that they do work. When the first Transformers film was released in 2007 there were no plans to release a score album, however this changed when a fan run online petition obtained over 5000 signatures. The score was composed by Clint Mansell and Lorne Balfe and details of the original planned release are available on the Video Game Music Database which reveals the extent of talented individuals that worked on the music.

In the video clip above you can listen to the lengthy piece titled “Tank Battle” which is featured in one of the film’s final action scenes. Composer Lorne Balfe has been consistently releasing two tracks every Friday as a means to help generate excitement over the score. He’s also released an unused alternate score for the film’s opening ‘Shelling Sequence’ which offers film score fans a look behind the scenes of crafting the music for the film.

A twitter account @gitsost has also been actively promoting the film’s score and been encouraging Paramount Pictures and Lakeshore Records to release the score. The film’s Director, Rupert Sanders was also recently interviewed by Neil Middlemiss for Home Theatre Forum and was asked about the score release:

Neil Middlemiss:You worked with Clint Mansell and Lorne Balfe on Ghost in the Shell. And the music in your films works so incredibly well. What is your working process like with the composers that you work with? And what on God’s Earth do we have to do in order to get a score release for Ghost in the Shell’s wonderful soundtrack done? Who do I need to call [laughter]?

Rupert Sanders:Well, we will endeavor to do something. I think it’s a valid point and I think a digital release is a fairly inexpensive way to do it. But I work with the musicians as closely as I work with so many of the other collaborators. And as a director, your role when working on that side of the film is to inspire and excite those people around you so they give their best work. You’re not in there telling them what key the opening should be in, but you’re trying to give them as much of your vision of the film sonically as possible, and guide them as much as possible so they understand what you’re trying to do. And that’s really the hardest thing, especially with music, because you can’t draw it. And it’s very hard when you’re not musical, like myself, to talk in phrases and musical expressions because I don’t really know many of them but I can draw the shit out of a prop house. But music is harder [and] I think it’s about getting people who are collaborative, who want to help you on the journey do something different, and I’m really proud of the originality of the score. And I will follow up, and I will make sure that there’s a release. And as soon as it’s released, we’ll email you a link [laughter].

Until the score is officially released I will continue to check out Lorne Balfe’s YouTube page every Friday for the latest tracks he’s shared. OSV will keep you updated if an official score released in announced.

On March 30, 2017, Spinnup records released the official soundtrack to Metroid: The Bounty Hunter’s Judgement, a fan film currently in production by OutPort Studio which is part of The Project Pack. According to the artist, this project was developed to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of Metroid, as a tribute to Hirokazu Tanaka, Kenji Yamamoto and Minako Hamano for composing music for this franchise, and to Toby Fox for composing and developing Undertale. You can listen to the entire album which runs around 20 minutes below.

This is the result of months of research, composing, arranging, playing and recording, and with the huge support of thousands of talented people, this 8 track album was possible. Music, as any other form of art, exists to protect and sustain a way of expression, and with It, protects a way to experience and approach a theme.

Fan art is now protecting both of them as hard as ever.We want to thank all of the Metroid community for keeping the franchise alive and relevant. From the speed running community, to the modding, hacking, illustration, music and game developing community, all of you are the ones who keeps us believing that Samus adventures are not over.

We want to thank Milton Guasti (DoctorM64) for creating the perfect fan game with AM2R, and making the ultimate gift for the fans on the exact 30th Anniversary of the Metroid.

Zest

The album is also available on iTunes, Spotify, and purchase an official digital copy of Amazon. Although a release date for the fan film has not been announced, OSV will keep you posted?

Robyn Miller, the composer of the soundtracks to Myst, Riven and Obduction has just released the soundtrack to Little Potato. The short film directed by Wes Hurley & Nathan M. Miller just won Best Documentary Short at the SXSW Film Festival earlier this month. The filmmakers describe the film as an autobiographical documentary that tells the story of Little Potato‘s journey growing up gay in the Soviet Union before and after the fall of communism, his mother’s struggles to create a better life for them both, and their eventual escape to America via her becoming a mail-order bride.

Wes came to me with a daring musical vision: he wanted an upbeat 80’s synthpop sound. For music nerds, here are the tools I used: Native Instruments Komplete Kontrol S88 and Komplete Ultimate, Pianoteq 5, Macintosh and Logic Pro X. The score was recorded at my home in Seattle.

Robyn Miller

You can sample the album’s remaining tracks on Amazon where it can be purchased digitally for $8.99.

Where you at the SXSW Film Festival this year, and did you have a chance to see Little Potato?

Last year, OSV reviewedBeep: A Documentary History of Game Sound which is an excellent overview of the world of game audio. The companion book, Beep: The Complete Interviews written by Karen Collins and Chris Greening collects over 100 interviews with the leading names in the game sound industry and is part of the latest Storybundle. The Pay What You Want bundle (minimum $5) titled The Rogue Souls Bundle is available until April 13, 2017. Additional details on the bundle are below:

Love video games? Then The Rogue Souls Bundle is PERFECT reading material for when you can’t play video games!

Among the ten phenomenal ebooks we have in the bundle is You Died – The (Unofficial) Dark Souls Companion from Keza MacDonald & Jason Killingsworth, a history of FromSoftware’s majestic, tough as nails action RPG that’s at the same time interviews with key figures from playing & translating it, plus a bird’s eye view of the entire phenomenon. Also we’ve got a StoryBundle exclusive Bug Voyáge! A Tour of Classic Game Glitches by John Harris. Harris has delved deep into classic games – from Pac-Man to Galaga and beyond – to point out some amazing glitches, how you trigger them, and the underlying logic that makes them possible. In addition to all the wonderful game ebooks, we’re happy to feature the Video Game History Foundation as the designated charity for this bundle.

Storybundle

You can grab yourself a copy of this bundle over at Storybundle website. I already grabbed mine!

If you haven’t had a chance to watch Beep: A Documentary History of Game Sound yet, you can rent or purchase the film here.

The soundtrack to Ducktales The Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp has at long last been released on CD. Growing up it was one of my favorite Disney animated films, and the music was what made the film special. It is a large scale adventure score that has some nods to the theme from the TV series.

A favorite project of composer David Newman, who considered it, “Like a dream experience for me.” Newman was afforded considerable freedom to write what he felt was most appropriate without interference. “It was lovely.” Newman scores for a large orchestra, writes wall-to-wall music, including several lengthy sequences. Strong degree of musical architecture results. Music often twists and turns on a dime, racing forward, stopping suddenly for quick pauses then continuing onwards. Excitement is name of the game! Vibrant recording by Tim Boyle made at Evergreen Studios in Burbank over 6 days in June 1990. Entire album is presented in crisp stereo sound from complete digital 2-track scoring session masters with 3 additional cues derived from the 30 its Dolby SR-format analog mixes, all courtesy Walt Disney Records. John Takis provides descriptive liner notes, Kay Marshall fashions gorgeous, colorful “flipper” cover. Choose your favorite! David Newman composes, orchestrates, conducts. Intrada Special Collection CD available while quantities and interest remain!

Intrada Records

The CD is available for purchase directly from Intrada Records’ website for $21.99. I’ve already ordered my copy. Here’s hoping we’ll see more music from Ducktales released in the future.

Back in January of this year we let OSV readers know that La-La Land Records was taking fan requests for their most wanted unreleased or rare Star Trek music. The set was originally planned to be released as a 3 CD set in September to coincide with the 50th anniversary, but now just in time for the holiday season arrived as an incredible 4 disc set that went on sale Tuesday November 29, 2016.

La-La Land Records and CBS present, STAR TREK: 50th ANNIVERSARY COLLECTION – MUSICAL RARITIES FROM ACROSS THE STAR TREK UNIVERSE, a sensational celebration of 50 years of Star Trek music in honor of the landmark series’ five-decade milestone. Travel at warp through Star Trek’s spellbinding musical history, with rare and exciting selections from the franchise’s varied television series, films, games, themed attractions and more!

DISC ONE features cues from the original, classic STAR TREK TV series (most of which were released on our TOS BOX SET, but have been sourced from newly discovered elements), as well the oft-requested STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE track “Inner Workings,” (featuring the wind machine more prominently) and STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN’s “End Titles,” (without the narration as heard on previous soundtrack releases.)

DISC TWO showcases the official world premiere release of music from STAR TREK: THE ANIMATED SERIES, the beloved 70’s Filmation TV series, as well as original STAR TREK-inspired compositions from Ron Jones, and STAR TREK BORG, a score by Dennis McCarthy from an interactive 1996 movie/computer game.

DISC THREE features previously unreleased scores from STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION, including such episodes “Coming of Age,” “The Hunted,” “Tapestry” and more, as well as the series’ trailer music.

DISC FOUR contains more unreleased THE NEXT GENERATION, including “Deja Q,” “Elementary, Dear Data,” and others, as well as unreleased demo tracks from DEEP SPACE NINE, and VOYAGER, original score from the famed Las Vegas attraction, STAR TREK: THE EXPERIENCE, and still more!

Produced by Lukas Kendall and mastered by Doug Schwartz and James Nelson, this special collection contains a 48-page booklet with exclusive liner notes by writer Jeff Bond and stellar art design by Mark Banning. This treasure trove of musical gems from the most celebrated sci-fi television series of all time has a total running time of more than five full hours and is limited to 3000 units.

La-La Land Records

I am simply overjoyed that some of my requests made the set, including my most wanted piece “La Paloma (traditional)” from the Star Trek: The next Generation episode “Deja Q”. The music from the video game Star Trek: Borg also get its first official release on this set, it had been previously been released by the composer on a promotional CD-R which is no longer available. You can purchase the set for $49.98 on La-La Land Records website.

The Beep Movie was officially released on September 30, 2016. I’ve watched the film, which is just short of two hours and a wonderful examination of the history of sound in video games. This includes a look at how music and sound design evolved from the penny arcade era to the modern era of gaming today.

Although I been writing for Original Sound Version for close to two years I still consider myself a bit of a N00b when it comes to game audio. Most of my game audio experiences have come from playing games, and listening to soundtracks. Until now, I did not have a decent understanding of the behind the scenes of the game audio world and Beep pulls back the curtain for its viewers. Read on to hear my full review of the film and the Blu-ray release.

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